1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light shutter array which is employed in a write head of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a facsimile, and more particularly to a light shutter array which is composed of light shutter elements made of a material having an electro-optical effect.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a write head comprising a light shutter array which is composed of hundreds of light shutter elements made of an electro-optical material such as PLZT. The light shutter elements are connected to a common electrode at one end and to respective individual electrodes at the other end.
The light shutter elements are processed by machining or the like, and the light shutter elements vary in light transmitting area because of insufficient accuracy of the movement of the machining tool. The common electrode and the individual electrodes are processed by vapor deposition, sputtering or the like, and the electrodes vary in thickness because of variation in distance at the time of vapor deposition or sputtering. The variation of the light shutter elements in light transmitting area results in variation of the quantity of light transmitted through the light shutter elements. The variation in electrode thickness causes electric fields generated in the light shutter elements to be of different strengths, also resulting in variation of the quantity of light transmitted through the light shutter elements. Consequently, when an image is formed with a write head employing the light shutter array, problems such as toner deposition on blank regions, thinning of lines, and vertical streaks occur.
Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 63-189268 intends to solve these problems. However, a light shutter array disclosed by tile Japanese Publication requires a complicated electric control circuit, thereby making the whole apparatus large and expensive.